Tragedy at Virginia Tech will have major implications

At 7:15 yesterday morning, the first shots were fired in what has turned out to be the worst shooting rampage in US history. According to the NY Times:

Thirty-two people were killed, along with a gunman, and at least 15 injured in two shooting attacks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute on Monday during three hours of horror and chaos on this sprawling campus.

There has been some really incredible coverage so far. I just saw a CNN interview with a female student who was able to survive by playing dead in the classroom. She was one of four people to leave her class alive after preventing the shooter from re-entering their classroom by blocking the door.

Even Bush suprised me with this appropriate comment:

"Our nation is shocked and saddened by the news of the shootings at Virginia Tech today...Schools should be places of safety and sanctuary and learning...When that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American classroom and every American community."

As the story continues to develop, there are still so many unanswered questions:

• Who is the shooter?
• What was the motive?
  
• Were the two bomb threats from last week related to today's incident?
  
• Why wasn't the campus immediately locked down?
• Why weren't students warned sooner?
• Could the second round of shooting have been prevented?
• Was the University and police response bundled?

While the list of questions grows, this tragedy has already had major political implications. It has fully consumed the news cycle for a full day now and will at least continue through the next week as more information slowly comes out.

One major result is that the following stories have been wiped off our television screens and newspapers:

• The bombings in the Green Zone in Baghdad
• The Don Imus extravanga that was just heating up
• The innocence of the Duke lacrosse players
• The Prosecutor Purge and calls for Gonzales' resignation
• Escalating rhetoric between Bush and Congress on Iraq War funding

I had planned to blog about a number of these items and since they have quickly become "old news", I will try to approach them in a more in-depth manner and spend more time on each.

This tragedy also raises some important questions for Penn. What would Penn have done in this situation? Could we h even handle such a major catastrophe?

According to Penn's Division of Public Safety, Penn Police would be prepared for a similar incident. That is crucial because at the end of the day, Penn students are wondering: " what if something like that happened here?" I know I did.

I am definitely confident that DPS has and will continue to work exceptionally hard to ensure our safety. I really hope they actively communicate how prepared they really are and reassure the Penn community.

~BT